


Day 34: The Stanchurian Candidate

by PineTrain



Series: 40 Days of Pinecest [35]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/M, pinecest - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 20:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10557310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PineTrain/pseuds/PineTrain





	

Dipper had lost the election. It wasn’t by a lot, but that didn’t stop it from being disappointing. He’d still be on the student council, and he had a fair amount of clout in it, but he wouldn’t be president. He wouldn’t be able to push the things he wanted to do. 

He knew the whole student government thing was bullshit just like everyone else, but they did have the ability to do some things. They could offer the student view on things to the teachers (even if they were generally ignored). They had a small stipend from the schools budget and more or less carte blanche on fundraisers for student affairs. He could’ve gotten some couches for the entranceway where a lot of students hung out during lunch. Or maybe he could’ve gotten the pep rallies to be a bit more interesting than the snooze fests they currently were. He could’ve done something.

Elections were always a glorified popularity contest and Dipper had never exactly been popular. The only reason he stood a chance was the overall apathy of the student body towards the whole thing. Most would probably just check a random name without even looking, but there were some who actually cared. If he could impress them with his speech then maybe he could win. 

Unfortunately, he completely flubbed it. Stuttering and mis-speaking constantly, he stumbled through it and was relieved when the embarrassment finally ended. It wasn’t even a nerves thing. He’d gotten over a lot of his social awkwardness and while public speaking wasn’t easy, he could still do it. No, his problem was a lack of sleep. 

———- 

Two days before, a Saturday, Mabel had an amazing dance recital. The family celebrated with pizza, cake, and glowing praise for her performance. Even after their parents went to sleep, Dipper stayed up late with her for extra long Twin Time. They watched cartoons on the couch until it was far past midnight and the energy of it all wore down. 

Mabel was nuzzled into his shoulder. Dipper wrapped his arm around her firmly, but gently, stroking her hair with his other hand as he talked about his favorite parts of the recital. He only stopped for an occasional gesture that attempted to visually recreate what he described. It was after one of those moments that she caught his hand before it could return and threaded their fingers with a giggle.

“You’re the best brother ever, you know that?” she said wistfully. She leaned up to peck his cheek and Dipper smiled. He turned his head to look at her and was surprised when their lips touched, Mabel having gone in for a second peck. 

She seemed surprised too by the size of her eyes. They were both frozen, lips still touching. After a moment, Mabel’s eyelids drifted down and she began pushing into the kiss. Dipper found himself pressing back, squeezing her hand as he did so. He didn’t know how long they kissed for, just that they did until his mind fogged over with exhaustion. 

His mother woke him only a few hours later. In his delirium, it took a second to realize Mabel wasn’t there. It must have been a dream, he figured, because there was no way he and Mabel would have kissed. He was a bit concerned about how his heart raced at the memory of it. The concern only grew when he went into the kitchen for breakfast and found her eating a bowl of cereal. 

Mabel turned to look at him, cheeks puffed with milk-soaked marshmallows, and gave what smile she could. She didn’t blush though. That’s what’s supposed to happen after something like what he’d dreamed, right? She looked completely normal to him. So yeah, it was definitely a dream. A very weird one. Dipper decided to stay away from her for today as he sorted this out. 

But she was somehow always around, no matter what he did. He played some videogames and she came in to watch. He read a book outside and she came out to play with Waddles. Finally, he attempted to sneak out and go see a movie. If anything, maybe he could catch a nap in the theater. He was on only a few hours sleep and it was catching up quick. 

There was a familiar pink sweater standing in front of the ticket booth when he got there. The owner was examining the movie times and Dipper continued a few steps before realizing he should turn around and go. 

“Dipper!” 

He flinched and turned back to greet her, “Hey Mabes, what are you doing here?” 

“Seeing a movie, doi!” 

She hadn’t said anything about wanting to go see a movie earlier. Dipper didn’t understand why she was here now. Was there even anything out right now that she’d want to see? 

“Oooh! Let’s go see one together! It’ll be great!” Mabel yelled. 

Dipper’s head hurt a bit from exhaustion so he didn’t object and they bought tickets to something. A comedy of some sort, there were a few out now. He went to get the seats as she used the bathroom. The theater was nearly empty. He went to the very back out of habit instilled by years of being a third wheel (it was always awkward). 

Closing his eyes for a bit, he enjoyed the relief it brought. A weight settled in the neighboring seat. He looked over just as Mabel lifted the armrest and grasped his arm, snuggling into it. She looked absolutely adorable as she glanced up with a smile. The memory of the dream twinged in his mind and he fought the urge to kiss her forehead. It wasn’t worth the risk. 

Instead he leaned back into his chair and watched the trailers while the lights dimmed. It was difficult to ignore the warmth at his side, but after a few minutes he closed his eyes again and drifted into sleep. 

It was a long nap and he missed almost the entire movie. He only woke up because an explosion happened during the zany climax. Dipper felt a lot better, but was still groggy. What was happening on screen made absolutely no sense to him so he looked to Mabel. 

She was still leaning against him, but had apparently fallen asleep herself. Her grip on his arm had fallen, and her hands were now settled on his. It must’ve been intentional, since one threaded their fingers just as they had done last night. It was a loose connection, her muscles relaxed in her sleep, but it made him happy nonetheless. 

It was a little easier to kiss her this time since she wasn’t awake. Just a soft one on the top of her head. He caught a whiff of her strawberry and vanilla scented shampoo and breathed it in deeply, stopping when he realized that was a little weird. In any case, it was nice being like this with her. He squeezed her hand affectionately. 

That apparently was enough to wake her up, because Mabel began to stir. Dipper moved slightly away so she could lift her head with a yawn. The lights in the theater came on and Dipper realized the end credits had begun. 

“Perfect timing, sleepyhead,” he joked. 

Mabel stuck her tongue out, “You fell asleep first, so you don’t have any right to talk.” 

She had a point. Dipper laughed and squeezed her hand again, “Yeah, yeah, okay.” Mabel squeezed back and they fell quiet, just looking at each other with light smiles. 

She really was so cute at times like these. Not that she wasn’t cute at other times, but during these silent moments were when he could catch all the subtle beauty about her. The shine in her eyes, the dimples just barely visible, the natural rosy tint of her cheeks. His eyes fell to her lips as he remembered the dream. They turned at an angle as she cocked her head to the side.

“Bro-bro?” she whispered, “Whatcha looking at?” 

He looked back to her eyes. They didn’t really seem to hold any confusion or inquisitiveness, as if she already knew the answer to her own question. Granted, it probably wasn’t hard to figure it out considering how close they were. Still, he felt he should answer it anyways. 

“You.” 

It wasn’t actually what he meant to say, or maybe it was. It was true either way, but such a simple answer could have any number of meanings. Dipper suspected most of them fell under the same category. Judging by how Mabel’s cheeks grew redder than normal, she likely suspected the same. She didn’t say anything or pull away, though, so it was hard to tell how she felt about it. 

“Last night, did - ” She was cut off by the sound of a broom sweeping. 

One of the theater staff had come in to clean things up for the next showing. Mabel apparently didn’t feel like finishing her sentence anymore. Standing up, she waited for Dipper to follow suit and began heading down the staircase. When he turned the corner to walk out of the theater, Dipper looked back to see the worker give a sheepish grin and shrug as if to say, “Sorry man, gotta do my job.” He thought he had interrupted a date. 

They split up after exiting, having come in separate cars. Dipper thought about the worker’s gesture while he drove home. To someone who didn’t know them, it probably did look like a date. It wouldn’t be the first time. They’d always been so close that strangers would occasionally compliment him on having such a cute girlfriend. Maybe Mabel heard compliments about having a handsome boyfriend? He’d never really dwelled on the matter. It was just a funny thing that came up from time to time. 

The family had pizza that night. Everyone grabbed a couple slices and headed off to do their own things as was typical for such a casual dinner. Dipper returned to his room to memorize a bit more of his speech and maybe practice a bit. He’d have it on a podium when the time came, but it’d look better if he didn’t have to glance down every other second. 

Mabel was in there, laying on her stomach on the floor and doodling in a notebook with some colored pencils. Her pizza sat next to her and she paused to take a bite just as he entered. She looked up at him and smiled just as she had that morning, cheeks chipmunked with food. 

It wasn’t unusual for her to be in his room from time to time. She wasn’t distracting since they rarely talked when she was there. They simply enjoyed each other’s presence, the relaxation it brought helping them both focus on whatever task they worked on. 

That was how it normally went, at least. Settling against his pillows on his bed, he pulled up the speech on his laptop and attempted to study it, maybe make some last minute changes. It was hard to concentrate though, and he caught himself stealing glances over at Mabel occasionally. That dream was making him reconsider all the things they did together. Was the fact that people usually thought they were dating really that funny? When he thought back, neither of them had dated anyone the last two years. He just didn’t think about it because he was busy with clubs and the student council. Was that really the reason? Why had Mabel stopped being boy-crazy (or girl-crazy) and why didn’t he notice until now? 

“Hey Mabes,” he said, closing his laptop. 

“Yeah?” she said through a mouth full of food.

“What were you going to say earlier? Back at the theater. About last night.” 

Mabel gulped and sat up straight, “Well, last night, before we fell asleep…”

“Yeah?” 

“Did we, um… kiss?” Mabel flushed. “I-I mean! Uh, I might’ve had a dream but it felt really real and, I dunno, I just was thinking that I really like being around you cuz it makes me really happy and so I thought maybe it was real and, um, I might’ve been sorta stalking you today because it made me happy, like I said, and if we did kiss last night then Iwannadoitagain…” she said, twirling her hair nervously.

Dipper blinked at the ramble, his mind taking a minute to process such a huge run-on sentence. It seemed that it hadn’t been a dream. Of course, that didn’t matter at this point. Even if it was a dream, they’d both had it and they both wanted to do it again. 

“Mabes…” 

“Uh, um! I didn’t mean that! Haha! Jokes on you!” She must think she screwed up by saying all that. 

“Mabel, can you come here?” 

Dipper tried to phrase it so she wouldn’t panic as her shifting eyes suggested she might. Reluctantly, she stood up and crawled onto the bed, avoiding his gaze. He kind of felt like this was the time where he was supposed to say something romantic to let her know everything was okay. Too bad he sucked at romance. Whatever. He set a hand on her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. 

His eyes were closed when he did it, but he knew hers were popping open just like they had last night. He pushed in the same way she had to show he meant it and was pleased when she began pushing back. They continued for a few minutes before moving away, sharing a laugh about how they both tasted like pizza. They sat a bit, smiling at each other. Mabel kissed hisnose, picked up her stuff, and left to her room. 

For the next few hours, they pretended as if something so momentous hadn’t happened. After their parents went to sleep, Dipper heard her knock on his door and he called her in. Time flew past as they alternately kissed and laughed about how they both only realized their feelings with that first accidental one. How they could’ve been as happy as they were now so much sooner if it hadn’t developed so naturally neither of them noticed. Eventually they fell asleep in each other’s arms, an early alarm set to wake them so Mabel could return before their parents awoke. 

———— 

Dipper got about one hour of sleep by the end of it all. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell he could’ve succeeded at the speech with how jumbled his mind was and the massive bags under his eyes giving him a ghoulish appearance. 

He couldn’t say he was surprised when he saw he lost during the school’s morning news the next day. It was still disappointing when he saw the results though. He had really wanted to do some good for his fellow students. 

It was for the best though. He would’ve worked hard at it and that’d mean less free time at home. Less free time with his new girlfriend.


End file.
